[Note: This is one post in a series on David Gushee’s book After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity. The aim of these posts is to help you start conversations with people in your community. Invite someone to read this book with you and discuss it together. You don’t need to agree with each other or the author to benefit from doing this type of activity.]
Chapter 6: Church: Finding Christ’s People
Having explored how he understands the Old Testament narrative and Christ’s Gospel in the previous two chapters, Gushee proceeds to explain his definition of the church. Rather than spend a majority of his time pointing out the issues he sees with evangelical communities, Gushee offers the reader and inside look at the kind of faith-community he finds life-giving.
Gushee emphasizes the need for Christians to find a local community of people who enter into a covenant with one another and God. The covenant relationship binds the people together as they walk through all sorts of issues in life. This chapter especially invites the reader to find a community of people that are Seeking the Kingdom. This is the name of the group Gushee started at his local church. The name emphasizes the ongoing nature of Christian maturity and development.
Gushee’s explanation of the church is both expansive and challenging. He emphasizes the universality of the church. God seeks all people and our churches should reflect that diversity. Additionally, Gushee’s explanation of the church challenges us to grow in faith together with other Christians. This is not a devotional group that rests on platitudes. Instead, it seeks out God’s truth. Wherever the Spirit leads, Christians should follow. Gushee argues this will lead us to far more inclusive spaces than typically found in evangelical churches.
Intriguing Quote(s)
“It is possible—indeed, it is sadly well documented—that groups of people claiming to be churches can become negations of the church. Churches can become divided and divisive, unholy and hateful, racist and xenophobic, alien-ated and alienating from the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ.Some people leave churches like that, thinking mistakenly that they have left the church. Instead, they have left negations of what Christ intended the church to be. Fleeing such communities may not be a sign of wavering faith in Jesus; it may be an affirmation of it.” (107)
“We may not be able to find Christ’s people where we thought to look. But I am convinced that we can find them.” (107)
“The Christian life does not thrive in isolation, and podcasts are not enough. Find flesh-and-blood kingdom people in a real physical space somewhere and do life together as far as you can manage it.” (112)
Conversation Starters
What does your engagement in a faith community look like? Does your involvement allow you to know people on a deep/personal level?
Is your church diverse (ethnically, generationally, etc.)? What enables this or prevents it?